Waterford now the worst affected part of Munster for Covid-19 cases

Across the country, more than 21,000 new cases were confirmed in the two weeks to February 1, reflecting a continued fall in infection rates. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA

There are fewer Covid-19 hotspots across the Munster region as infection rates continue to fall nationally.

The latest data on Covid infection levels in local electoral areas (LEA) show a significant fall in infection rates in Munster, with just eight out of 46 areas having above average infection rates.

As of February 1, the national infection rate stood at 455 cases per 100,000 population, following a significant fall from a peak in January that briefly ranked Ireland as having the highest infection rate in the world.

The worst affected area of Munster is Waterford where the entire city and the Tramore area continue to have high infection rates of between 670.5 and 805.3 cases per 100,000 population.

Just over 500 new cases of Covid-19 were detected across the Waterford city area over the previous two weeks.

Infection rates are also above average in parts of Limerick, Tipperary and Cork.

While infection rates are falling, the Bandon-Kinsale area had a higher than average infection rate of 638.6 cases per 100,000 population after 238 cases were detected in the previous two weeks.

Infection rates in the Kanturk area and the north eastern part of Cork city were also just above the national average.

More than 2,070 cases were detected across Cork county in the two weeks to February 1, almost half that detected in the previous two weeks (3,741). Of 15 local electoral areas across Cork, 12 have below average infection levels.

National infection rates

Nationally, parts of Monaghan and Wexford had the highest infection rates at more than twice the national average – 1,096.3 cases per 100,000 population in the Carrickmacross-Castleblayney area and 1,086.1 cases per 100,000 population in the Enniscorthy area.

All three electoral areas in Monaghan remain in the top 10 national Covid hotspots, which also includes the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Lucan and Ballymun-Finglas areas in Dublin, Castlebar in Mayo, and the Carlow town area.

The Belmullet area of Mayo previously held the top spot nationally for Covid infections for a number of weeks but rates have seen a significant fall there, from a peak of 6,031 cases per 100,000 population in mid-January to 722.2 infections per 100,000 population at the start of February.

Kilrush in Clare and the Athlone area of Roscommon had the lowest infection rate in the country at 119-120 cases per 100,000 population, as of last Monday.

Across the country, more than 21,000 new cases were confirmed in the two weeks to February 1, reflecting a continued fall in infection rates. The total number of cases confirmed to date exceeded 200,000 this week.

The number of Covid deaths, however, reached record numbers in January with more than 1,000 deaths reported. On Tuesday last week, 101 deaths were reported – the highest number reported on a single day since the pandemic took hold.

More than 1,250 people are receiving hospital treatment for Covid, with around 180 in intensive care.